Aetherios System: Whirlwind

Book 4: Chapter 6: Heated Opportunity

Chapter 6

That night, the guest compound was too quiet for a group that had spent the last few weeks covered in blood and volcano ash.

Even with the sun having hidden itself behind that huge abyss that Alex was still certain was a black hole, the air outside was still hot from the day. Volcanic glow spilled a faint orange light through the courtyard, giving a soft ambiance.

Alex sat cross-legged beneath the awning, sweat slicking his neck as he concentrated. Behind him, nine threads of woven aether pulled in the ambient energy and drew it together. Each breath drew in Aether-rich air to both his lungs and his aether-gate. The stream of energy fed his body as it traveled throughout his aether channels, condensing it down for his tissues to assimilate. It was a patient rhythm of absorption and refinement that he’d finally begun to control almost without any conscious thought.

He exhaled slowly, and steam rose from his skin in response.

The [Wyrm-Heart] in his soul-space pulsed faintly in his chest, syncing with his breathing, with his gathering technique. The memory of the Fire-Drake still lingered in his mind. He still recalled that flash of power when his soul had brushed against the beast’s will, forcing it to follow him and submit.

On reflection, he wasn’t sure whether that had been sheer willpower and aether-aura or something deeper. Perhaps an instinct buried deep down, connected to the [Wyrm-Heart] and its strange energy. He guessed it had something to do with the Draconic connection of his constitution.

He wanted to test it again, but part of him was afraid of what he’d find if he pushed too far.

“Still can’t sit still even when we’re not on fire, huh?” Devon’s words came from behind him.

Alex cracked one eye open. I could see that Devon leaned in the doorway, his arcane-rifle slung across his shoulder. Its metal bits, and even the wooden stock of the weapon both, shone under the light. The man had been cleaning the same weapon for an hour or so, another kind of meditation all its own.

“Trying to burn off the mind fog and the noise,” Alex said. He cut his mental connection to the nine glittering aether threads that swam behind his back, letting the flow fade.

Devon snorted. “If you figure out how to do that permanently, write me a guide.”

Across the courtyard, the others had settled into their own rhythms. Kate and Holly sparred in the open space, both dripping sweat and swearing between bursts of fire and wind magic. At the same time, Ghrukk and Henry were at one of the side tables, dismantling the remains of a halberd head that had cracked during the last mission. It needed to be repaired. Lance stood opposite them, arguing over reforging techniques and materials.

Allie was inside, her room. She hadn’t come out for a day or so, but Alex knew she was still int here as the faint shimmer of light and shadow aether leaked through the windows. She’d been working on her dual attunement balance all that time. The effect made her silhouette in his [Aether-Sight] seem to flicker between two planes at once.

Tom-Tom was off in his own corner, looking over an ever growing pile of seeming junk that he had been collecting. Some of the items he had stock-up were enchanted, Alex could see that, but not all of them.

The little kobold was growing a penchant for hoarding things. Alex assumed it was related to his race. Kobolds were known to be long descended from Dragons. And no one doubted a Dragon’s urge to gather a hoard.

His small, scaled figure was still wearing the cooking pot as a helmet, though Devon had taken the liberty to add glyphs to it and make it stronger. He also wore mostly basic rags underneath his child-sized leather armor. A small white bandage taped to the side of his face completed his outfit. That last item was added by Allie, after the kobold had burned himself when he ended up trying to lick the volcanic vent in the courtyard. Because of course he had.

Again, things were relatively quiet.

Then the air rippled.

A single chime echoed through the compound and the wards along the perimeter glowed faintly as the heavy doors of the front gates swung open of their own accord.

Alex straightened to a standing position as Lady Xhiu stepped through those gates.

She was draped in violet silks that shimmered faintly with enchantment, her dark hair bound in an intricate pattern that framed her sharp, unreadable face. Two attendants followed behind her, each holding a lacquered case. Alex could see that the case had the Empire’s insignia carved into the sides.

Everyone paused what they were doing and turned to the lady’s arrival.

“Lady Xhiu,” Kate said first. She bowed slightly, even though Alex could see that she hated doing it. “We didn’t expect an inspection this late.”

“It isn’t an inspection,” Xhiu said. “I come bearing for you an opportunity.”

She stopped in the center of the courtyard. Her eyes swept over the group before settling on Alex. “You’ve all been performing adequately,” she said. “Your merit ranks have risen sharply. It seems word of your… enthusiasm has begun to circulate in the capital.”

“Enthusiasm?” Devon muttered. “That what they call baking in the lava tunnels now?”

A flicker of amusement passed through her eyes. But it came and was gone just as quickly. “If it earns results, what it is called hardly matters. No?”

Alex stepped forward, giving his own curt bow just as Kate had. “So,” he said, “what kind of opportunity are we talking about this time?”

Xhiu gestured, and one of her attendants stepped forward, opening the large case they carried together. Inside lay a crystalline tablet etched with runes.

“A dungeon dive,” she said. “A Dungeon needs attention on the outskirts of Athrastas. It appeared to be having some strange readings last week after a failed attempt by a lesser sect to clear it. The Empire has deemed it unstable and likely to rupture into the outer city if not dealt with.”

“A potential breach?” Holly frowned. “Like… what happened with the Chimera Dungeon?”

“Correct,” Xhiu said. “Dungeons, as you know, are connected spatial pockets by the System. This is one that’s begun to decay. You’re to enter, stabilize it if possible, and clear any beasts within. The area is classified as a small dungeon so it will be a fast job, but one that carries significant merit value. That is why I am bringing it to you.”

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Alex folded his arms. “And what’s the catch?”

Xhiu smiled faintly, as though she’d been waiting for him to ask. “You’re learning.” She inclined her head toward the tablet. “It’s a small dungeon, yes, but one that has resisted prior clearances. The environment shifts and changes with every new party that enters, so even with the Empire’s methods, we cannot get information on its layout and threats.”

Devon whistled low. “So, basically, it’s a death trap.”

“No, as I said, it’s an opportunity,” Xhiu corrected smoothly. “The sort that earns proper attention.”

Alex studied her face for a long moment. The lamplight caught in her eyes, turning them into slivers of gold. Lady Xhiu was always calm, always poised, but underneath that mask, he could feel the pressure of someone who wanted something.

“Fine,” Alex said finally. “We’ll take it.”

Kate shot him a look. “You’re sure?”

He nodded. “We can handle it. And we could use the merit.”

Xhiu inclined her head slightly. “Excellent. You depart at dawn.”

She turned to leave, with the two attendants leaving the case and following in her wake. Before she reached the door, she paused just long enough to glance back at Alex.

“Remember,” she said, “the Empire, and the Inheritance itself, favors those who prove themselves before it. If you wish to claim its rewards… show that you are worthy.”

And then she was gone, leaving only the faint scent of incense and the sound of the courtyard’s simmering silence.

After a few seconds, Devon exhaled through his teeth. “You ever get the feeling we’re being fattened up for a big human-meat dinner or something?”

“Constantly,” Alex said.

He did feel that something was going on, something was off. Lady Xhiu wanted them to earn merit and inter the Inheritance Dungeon, sure. But merely because she could gain resources and political standing for sponsoring a group that entered. Not to mention the slice of the pie for anything they managed to bring back out.

She hadn’t gone out of her way to give them tasks or guidance before. Instead she had been letting them choose what tasks they would perform to gain merit and prove themselves.

They hadn’t even done a Dungeon for merit before, as they simply took too long to do, and were too high risk.

He checked out the slate that the attendance had left behind. It was a basic information slate, going of the mission with some few scarce bit of info on the Dungeon itself. It was a Fire Element Dungeon, though that wasn’t surprising since it was in a volcano. But he did a mental double take when he saw the Empire’s reward for the mission.

[Dungeon “Forge: UE-0118”

Mission Type: Full Clear

Merit Reward: 1,000]

One Thousand Merit? He almost didn’t believe it. There really must be something off about the dungeon for that kind of reward. Which meant it was not going to be easy, at all.

Part of him wanted to send a messenger back to Lady Xhiu declining the mission right then. But he didn’t. He knew it was dumb, risky even, but despite part of him knowing he shouldn’t do it there was another that craved the chance to try. The part of him that wanted the challenge.

Even if he had told himself not to be reckless and dumb with his training and push himself too far after the Chimeras and the fight with the Queen… He couldn’t deny he wanted it. Wanted to see what this Dungeon could offer, what waited beneath that mountain.

***

They descended by lift. A bronze cage lowering them through a shaft carved directly into the volcano’s inner wall. Faint runes flickered along the supports with containment seals and pressure stabilizers. Each of the sigils designed to keep the molten lava flow beneath from bursting upward and swallowing the city.

Kate leaned in beside him. He could already see sweat beading along her brow. “Remind me again why every dungeon lately has to involve lava or something trying to set us on fire?”

Holly gave a grin. “Because it’s the only thing that matches your temper.”

“Ha.” Kate rolled her eyes but didn’t argue.

Cole chuckled on Alex’s other side, resting his gauntleted hands over the shaft of his hammer. “At least this time it’s in the city. If something goes wrong and we need to escape the Dungeon, we’re not a week from civilization.”

Garret clapped Cole on the shoulder with a smile. “If something goes wrong down here, Cole, the millions tonnes of rock above us that is city, becomes the problem.”

Alex didn’t respond to any of their banter. Instead, his eyes tracked the glow deep below, the reflection of molten light against highly polished stone. The deeper they went, the more the air became thinner, but more dense with Aether.

Finally, the lift jolted to a stop. When the cage opened, the gate chamber stretched before them to show a large cavern hollowed into the tunnels of the of the volcano underbelly.

And in the center, was the dungeon entrance.

An erratic fissure in reality itself, a tear of violet light and silver flame suspended just above the ground. Its edges pulsed and flexed, just like Alex remembered the portal to the Chimera Dungeon had.

Around the Dungeon Gate, Empire artificers moved about. Their robes were scorched at the hems and their faces streaked with soot, yet their motions remained calm and unhurried. Dozens of rune-etched conduits linked the rift to a containment frame made of alloyed gold and black steel. The frame vibrated subtly under some kind of strain. Alex watched as sparks of Aether arced off it, leaving scorched patterns on the surrounding basalt floor.

Empire soldiers formed a perimeter around the entire area, controlling anyone who came and went.

One of the soldiers, a lieutenant, judging by his insignia, turned as Alex’s squad approached. “Worldstrider Unit, correct?” His tone was formal.

“That’s us,” Kate said, stepping forward with her usual fearless confidence.

The lieutenant nodded once, motioning toward the gate. “You’ll find the portal unstable but navigable. Keep to a single path once inside, the Dungeon changes its layout often, and the deeper sections are uncharted. The last team that entered was dead within four hours. No survivors recovered.”

“Comforting,” Garret muttered.

The soldier didn’t react to his joke. “Your mission is to stabilize the Dungeon and recover any data crystals left by the previous exploration unit. If believe at any time that you will fail to clear it, retreat immediately. The Empire will initiate a controlled collapse if things progress too far.”

Alex’s gaze lingered on the rift. Every few seconds, the air around it bent and distorted his vision.

“Controlled collapse?” he asked.

The soldier hesitated, then said quietly, “It means detonating the mountain section above it. This small pocket of the tunnels will be… gone.”

Holly exhaled sharply. “Right. No pressure then huh?”

“If this is such a problem, why have Adept mages go in? I’m sure there are plenty of Magus Tier mages that can handle this.” Alex said.

The soldier eyed him up and down before his eyes flickered about the cavern, as if searching for someone invisible. He opened his mouth as if to say something but paused. After another moment, he finally spoke. “Pride, ego, take your pick. If any noble house or Royal branch family admits they need to send a Magus to handle a low tier Dungeon, it will be a disgrace. Same for any territory controlled by a Martial Sect. Better to such destroy some tunnel and dig new ones.”

That was practically expected. It was about saving face then. No wonder the merit point reward was so high.

“Permission to approach the frame?” Alex asked.

The lieutenant nodded. “Careful. The containment runes are active.”

Alex stepped closer, the others following in behind him. Heat blasted his face, washing over him and drying out his eyes almost instantly. He could see the sigils lining the alloy braces, elegant scriptwork all woven in together. Each line was a strand of condensed aether that was placed overtop the material. The Empire’s artificers had done well. But the rift was getting stronger.

Even now, faint cracks spidered along the runes.

Obby’s voice echoed in his mind. “The spatial instability matches early dimensional breakdown patterns of the Chimera Dungeon… interesting. Similar, but more volatile.”

“Meaning?” Alex murmured under his breath.

“Meaning that whatever’s inside doesn’t want to stay there anymore, obviously. I’d suggest you hurry.”

Cole joined him at the frame’s edge, peering at the violent distortion. “Looks like a storm in there,” he said.

It did. Through the rippling veil, Alex glimpsed flashes of crimson skies, shards of stone floating midair, the faint echo of something vast moving in the distance.

He couldn’t help it, he was excited. Danger and curiosity always came hand-in-hand for him.

Kate’s rapier hissed as she drew it halfway from its sheath. “Well,” she said, “we gonna get a move on?”

Garret tightened the straps on his gloves. “We either come out heroes, or we come out extra crispy. I wanna bet on heroes.”

Alex exhaled slowly. “Alright,” he said. “Let’s go see what’s trying to claw its way into this world.”

And together, they stepped forward. The moment Alex crossed the threshold, the world folded in on itself. Sound bent, light fractured into a dozen impossible directions and formed dozens of entirely new colors.

The tunnels, the soldiers, the heat... all vanished. And the dungeon swallowed them whole.